It’s fair to say the Olinda girls were pretty keen to get out and have a kick after only two-quarters of footy over the past fortnight. The coaching staff were wondering whether or not we would need to get out the rule book to remind players how to play the game.
These fears were short-lived, though, as a perfect ruck clearance in the first 15 seconds saw the ball end up with Olivia (The Weapon) Edwards who promptly kicked a goal on the run.
Chelsea (The Big Kohoona) Wilson then proceeded to win every tap to generate clearances at will. Captain Courageous Claire Hyett loved the ball being handed to her on a plate and delivered the ball forward for DJ Ness (Mrs Curnow) Bateman and The Weapon. Amalija (Mars) Kostich proved to be a strong physical presence and Lucy (yet-to-be-nicknamed) Hilton, was a clear head with seemingly more time than anyone else to find a way through traffic. A six goal first quarter with strong intent was the best start to a game for some time.
Complacency crept in through the second quarter as players rushed forward without structure. Whist it was still a four-goal quarter, the coaches were looking for the style of football the Olinda girls will need in the coming weeks against ladder leaders. Instead, the intensity dropped away. There were no broken phones in the coach’s box, but the coaches really wanted the team to re-focus at half time on playing with intent at the contest with fast ball movement.
The third quarter saw a return to the relentless running and ball movement with the players understanding that they needed to control the game, their ball usage and the delivery forward.
Caretaker assistant coach, Leroy Monkhorst really wanted to see the girls communicating and working to get the ball moving quickly from the contest to the outside runners and Laser Lily Carlin proved to be a great target to get the ball forward. Not only is her kicking elite, but she marked and tackled all day, giving the Monbulk wings no respite.
As a side note, Leroy was seen out at Emerald on Sunday, reminding anyone who’d listen of his unblemished 2023 assistant coaching record, after another strong U13s win. Rumour has it, super-assistant coach, Sacha Sullivan has been checking the fine print of his contract!
Anja (Onions) Hulston ran the other wing against the highly touted Monbulk wing and she shut down much of their forward movement, while winning her own ball. She is coming into her own with her relentless pressure that makes opposition cry!
The final quarter saw the flood gates open with seven goals, 20 for the match. A nice return and reward for effort.
DJ Ness finished with five for the game with her partner in crime, The Weapon, kicking three. Leah Cody rolled forward from defence for three goals herself. It was pretty quiet for our dour defenders so Casey (Sugar) Seymour quietly slipped forward for two goals of her own.
Our part timers, Grace Belloni and Georgia Stubbs were invaluable assets with high marking, long kicking and clean hands around the contest; Grace also kicked three goals. Imagine what they’d be like if they played for Olinda every week!
The mosquito fleet of Kyah (The Missile) Barry and Ruby (Barb) Gilson were instrumental providing defensive efforts whilst also winning the ball at the source and being link up players with laser like handball and precision kicking. Both scored goals.
Longtime defender Laura Clarke has scored goals in the team’s last two outings and can’t work out why people seem to think goal kicking is hard. At the other end of the ground, young guns Anna Hughson and Chloe Kanally are proving to be two of the toughest players in Olinda jumpers.
So whilst the score line was great for Olinda supporters, the coaches were more impressed with the girls’ intensity with a really challenging three weeks of footy ahead of the mid season break. Credit also to Monbulk who fought all game despite the score line.
Olinda 20.16.136 def Monbulk 0.0.0
Juniors
U9s
In perfect conditions, the young Bloods headed to Emerald to lock horns with the Bombers.
Dry weather football meant the crowd were entertained with exquisite skills and football trickery.
It what can only be described as an arm wrestle, both clubs landed goals a plenty and showed why they are both premiership contenders in the 9’s competition for 2023.
The young Bloods again showed incredible sportsmanship and were all smiles in the process.
U11s
After a busy morning making breakfast for their mums, the U11s raced out to Emerald to take on one of the tougher teams in their competition. The boys put together a solid game of footy for all but the second quarter where Emerald kicked 3.4, which in the game in the end was too much to fight back. A good effort against a tough team.
U12 Girls had a well earned bye after their massive win last week.
U13 Boys Red
The good form of the Under 13 boys continued as they took on Emerald in lovely conditions for their Mother’s Day clash.
The heat was on early as Emerald brought the pressure and started well. Olinda’s boys took a little while to respond, but when they did, the response was impressive.
Ollie Wilford and Spencer Garratt both had their best games of the season whilst Ned Monkhorst was rock solid across half back. Kaden Johnston was outstanding in the ruck and Ollie Haines was finding lots of space on the wing creating lots of run an opportunities for Olinda’s forwards.
Another really strong performance.. Final score Olinda 14.16.100 def Emerald 2.2.14
U14 girls headed out to Emerald to have another crack at their bigger, strong opposition and the coaches could see from the outset that the girls’ game is developing every session with some great passages of play and ball movement. An early goal to Franki Edquist had the crowd on their feet, whilst new recruit Joni Wooden proved to be a find of the team with pace and aggression around the contest. The most impressive part of the game, though, was having 17 players available to play with another two available next week. Numbers are building and this will enable the girls to develop as a unit and continue to improve every week. Well done girls!
U15 Boys
Round five saw Olinda off to Emerald to celebrate Mother’s Day with a hard fought, impressive win. We kicked the first three goals of the game and although Emerald came at the Bloods hard in the second and third quarters Olinda was up to the challenge and steadily grew our lead until the final siren.
Our defenders were outstanding again, led by the ever reliable Will Meyer who ran in straight lines and met the ball with commitment.
Our relentless midfielders dominated clearance and contested ball and were superbly led by Aden Bates (37 possessions, two goals) who played one of the great captain’s games, while Olinda’s forwards always looked dangerous with creative Jesse Dester kicking three goals and dynamic full forward River Bellemo kicking two.
The boys will be sore after such a bruising (but fair) encounter and can take enormous confidence from their courage and commitment.
Thank you beautiful Olinda mothers for birthing such impressive young men.
Olinda 9.13.67 d Emerald 4.9.33.
